Tasteful functional upgrades mostly. Slotted discs and top shelf pads, B6 shocks and struts, a modest tune, control arm upgrades, really good tires on good stock rims if your car can be had with them, things of that nature. Those have been my main go-tos so far as I learn on a modern BMW DIY wrenching. Where I save in…

The choice of photos for this article was atrocious. Who decided on these angles and truncated shots? I still can’t actually tell what this car looks like.

This is an astoundingly bad take. Hatchbacks came first. Sedans are terribly impractical compared to hatchbacks. It’s nice for you that you don’t need a hatch, since you don’t like them. but there’s no logic in your argument.

Why bother with the 2.0 at all when the 2.5 exists and has almost the same gas mileage?

It has the sex appeal of a Chevy Uplander.

Pennsylvania cars causing the issues?  5 minutes south of NY border on rte 81 the first of many abandoned cars start showing up.

There is just something that isn’t attractive about these, with our without “wood”. They just look like they are “lumbering” everywhere they go.

Sounds like Florida logic to me. God that state is stupid.

Sounds like you need a new shop. CEL is a solvable problem.

Mass inspections seem to be legit. I just wish they’d crack down on loud pipes. I’m tired of hearing drag racing motorcycles blazing down the road nearby at 4 AM.

Absolutely. You don’t need a crossover. You need more sidewall on the tires. I drive on frost heaved, potholed  northern Minnesota roads in my minivan. I even take it down logging roads and off-road vehicle trails. Just watch out for the rocks. I like to go up one size on aspect ratio and down one on tire width. I had…

I just wasted a whole morning getting a safety inspection done (my usual place was unexpectedly closed) and I’ve had nonsense in the past from shady shops (NY), but overall I still support it for the same reason you said.  There needs to be some standard of road worthiness.  Maybe the German TUV is overkill, but…

To me the videos are proof that comprehensive state inspections are a good thing. None of the cars in those videos have Massachusetts plates and there is a reason. If I have a wheel bearing with even a little bit of wobble it’ll get an reject. Check engine light anytime in the last 100 miles? Reject. extensive rust on…

one of my very favorite parts of the interwebs right here...you just can’t write fiction better than you can observe reality.

The correct answer is Mazda, naturally. A CX-5 will give this guy plenty of space for 4 people who may not want to contort to reach down to their seats, a fairly engaging driving experience, a premium feeling without luxury tax, and a reasonable mileage.

Toyota’s interiors are certainly known for being bland.

The TSA is the same way.

The plane was in Texas and you have to ask why your brother was standing there saying WTF?

Really doubt it was the flight crew that decided to do this. Looks more like CBP trying to flip it around so they wouldn’t get blamed for having stupid rules. Just let the people off first and let them wait at the terminal until you can get some handlers for the baggage. Not fucking rocket science, use some common…